Vern Gosdin~ "Do You Believe Me Now"

minder47

Uploaded on May 16, 2008

"Do You Believe Me Now"

Vernon "Vern" Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) was an American country music singer. had 19 top-ten solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990.

Three of these hits went to number one: "I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)", "Set 'Em Up Joe" and "I'm Still Crazy".^[1]

Vern Gosdin
Vern Gosdin performing on TNN (1999)
Background information
Birth name	Vernon Gosdin
Born	August 5, 1934
Origin	Woodland, Alabama, USA
Died	April 28, 2009 (aged 74) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genres	Country, Gospel
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1967–2009
Labels	Elektra Ovation AMI A&M Compleat Columbia Records VGM
Associated acts	Emmylou Harris George Jones
Website	Official website

 

 

Career

Early years

As the sixth child in a family of nine,^[2] Vern Gosdin began singing in a church in Woodland, Alabama, where his mother played piano.

Vern and two brothers sang gospel on Birmingham radio station WVOK.^[2]

Vern later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he ran the D&G Tap. He idolized The Louvin Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys as a young man.^{[citation needed]}

1960s - West Coast Country music movement

In 1961, he moved to California, where he joined the West Coast Country music movement, first as a member of the Golden State Boys, which became The Hillmen, and included Chris Hillman.^[2]

Vern then formed The Gosdin Brothers with brother Rex. The duo hit the charts in the late '60s with "Hangin' On" on the Bakersfield International label, then with "Till The End" on Capitol Records.

During the same time period the Gosdin Brothers were featured on Hillman's former Byrds mate Gene Clark's first solo album, the 1967 well-regarded "Echoes: Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers" singing backing vocals on all of the tracks behind the lead vocals of Clark and Lead Guitars of Clarence White, Glen Campbell, and Bill Rinehart (later of the Merry-Go-Round).

1970s - Retirement and comeback

He retired from performing during the 1970s and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he operated a glass company.^[2]

In 1976, he signed with Elektra Records and his first hit was a remake of "Hangin' On", which featured Emmylou Harris on harmony vocals and peaked at No. 16.

His next single, "Yesterday's Gone", which also featured Harris, became his first Top 10 hit in 1977.

Several more hits followed between 1977 and 1979 with the biggest of these hits being a remake of "Till the End" and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love" which also featured harmony vocals from Janie Frickie.

1981-1983: Today My World Slipped Away

In 1981, Vern signed with Ovation Records and scored a Top 10 hit with "Dream of Me".

After Ovation Records closed their doors later in 1981, Vern signed with A.M.I. Records where he scored a Top 10 hit in 1982 with "Today My World Slipped Away". (This song later became a number-three hit for George Strait).

He signed with Compleat Records in the early '80s, and in 1984 released "There Is A Season," picked by the Los Angeles Times as best country album of the year.

The early 80s also found a great combination of talent as Vern Gosdin traveled from coast to coast opening show's for George Jones.

It was during this time that George Jones's manager, Gerald Murray,of Muscle Shoals, AL had the same home office for the two entertainers. George lived in Muscle Shoals at the time and the duo's office facility proved to be a pivot location for great writers and other entertainers including, Hank Williams Jr.

1983-1985: If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right) and There Is a Season

He made the top 10 consistently in the early '80s, really hitting his stride when he teamed with Max D. Barnes as a songwriting collaborator.

The pair specialized in songs of cheating and barroom romance, often delivering an over-the-top emotionalism that got Gosdin compared to the ultimate legend of honky tonk vocals -- George Jones.

 In 1983, Gosdin had two top 5 hits — "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)" and "Way Down Deep."

The following year, he had his first No. 1 single with "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)",^[1] which had previously been recorded by Gary Morris.^[2]

1987-1989: Chiseled in Stone

After Compleat Records went bankrupt, Gosdin signed with Columbia in 1987.

He had success right off the bat with "Do You Believe Me Now." He hit No. 1 once again with a tribute to Ernest Tubb called "Set 'Em Up Joe."^[1]

Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone," co-written with Barnes, won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year award in 1989.

1989-1990: Alone

His 1989 album Alone was a concept album in a traditional country style. It chronicled the dissolution of Gosdin's marriage and included his final number-one hit: "I'm Still Crazy".^[1]

From 1989-1991, he released a number of songs and three more made the Billboard top 10: "Right in the Wrong Direction," "That Just About Does It" and "Is It Raining at Your House."

"Raining" has been covered by Brad Paisley, and "That Just About Does It" by Willie Nelson

2007 The Vern Gosdin Book

In 2007 Vern Gosdin's manager, Dr. Gerald Murray of Muscle Shoals, AL wrote, True Life Stories About "The Voice".

The book told of the life and times the two had togeather and about a few of the many people in Vern's life. Murray was a part of Vern's life for some thirty years and referred to Gosdin as a father, brother and friend.

Later years

Vern continued writing and singing up until April 28, 2009, despite his battle and recovery from his first stroke in 1998.

In December 2008, Vern Gosdin announced that www.theVoiceofCountryMusic.com would be releasing "40 Years of the Voice" with the help of a marketing team Tangent Alliance, LLC.

This would become his final music project showcasing 40 years of his remarkable career.^[3]

It released a total of 101 pure country songs hand selected by Vern himself, 11 new songs recorded in 2008, 14 songs from his 1968 album "Sounds of Goodbye" with brother Rex Gosdin, and 77 of his favorite country and gospel classics.

Death

Gosdin, who suffered a stroke in early April 2009, died at a Nashville hospital the evening of April 28, 2009 at the age of 74.^[4]

Source:Wikipedia 

 

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Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man

Red Sovine~ "Giddy Up Go"

 Jonny Jacobsson
Uploaded on Jun 7, 2009


 Woodrow Wilson Sovine (July 17, 1918 – April 4, 1980), better known as Red Sovine, was an American country music singer associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music.

The most famous example was his 1976 number one hit "Teddy Bear".

Red Sovine
Birth name	Woodrow Wilson Sovine
Born	July 17, 1918
Origin	Charleston, West Virginia
Died	April 4, 1980 (aged 61) Nashville, Tennessee
Genres	country music
Occupations	musician, songwriter
Instruments	guitar
Years active	1935–1980
Labels	Decca, Starday
Website	Red Sovine.com

 

Biography

Early years

Born in 1918 in Charleston, West Virginia, Sovine (whose last name was pronounced So VINE) was taught to play guitar by his mother.

His first venture into music was with his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes, with whom he performed as "Smiley and Red, the Singing Sailors" in the country music revue Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels on WWVA-AM in Wheeling, West Virginia.^[1][2]

Faced with limited success, Bailes left to perform as part of The Bailes Brothers. Sovine got married, and continued to sing on Charleston radio, while holding down a job as a supervisor of a hosiery factory.^[1][2]

With the encouragement of Bailes, Sovine formed The Echo Valley Boys.^[3]

After a year of performing in West Virginia, Sovine moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where the Bailes Brothers were performing on KWKH-AM. Sovine's own early morning show wasn't very popular, but he gained greater exposure performing on the famed KWKH radio program, Louisiana Hayride.

One of his co-stars was Hank Williams, who steered Sovine toward a better time slot at WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama, and toward a contract with MGM Records in 1949.

That same year, Sovine replaced Williams on Louisiana Hayride when Williams jumped to the Grand Ole Opry.

Over the next four years he recorded 28 singles, mostly following in Williams' honky tonk footsteps, that didn't make much of a dent on the charts but did establish him as a solid performer.^[1][2]

Fame

Another Louisiana Hayride co-star who helped Sovine was country music legend Webb Pierce.

Pierce convinced Sovine to lead his Wondering Boys band and helped him toward a contract with Decca in 1954.

The following year Sovine cut a duet with Goldie Hill, "Are You Mine?" which peaked in the Top 15, and in 1956 he had his first number one hit when he duetted with Pierce on a cover of George Jones' "Why Baby Why".

Sovine had two other Top Five singles that year and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.^[1][2][4]

After recording close to 50 sides with Decca by 1959, Sovine signed to Starday Records and began touring the club circuit as a solo act.

1960s

In 1961, a song copyrighted, in 1955, by Sovine and co-writer Dale Noe became a sizeable hit on the Pop charts. The tune was the ballad "Missing You", arranged in Countrypolitan style and was recorded by Ray Peterson for his own Dunes label. "Missing You" became a #29 Billboard "Top 100" hit.

In the fall, it peaked at #7 on Billboard's "Adult Contemporary" chart (see U.S. Copyright Office's website and Joel Whitburn's "Across The Charts, The 1960s").

 In 1963, Sovine passed on the helping hand given him by older performers when he heard the singing of minor league baseball player Charley Pride and suggested that he move to Nashville, Tennessee.

Sovine opened doors for Pride at Pierce's Cedarwood Publishing, but his own career had stalled: "Dream House For Sale", which reached number 22 in 1964, came nearly eight years after his last hit.^[1][2]

Trucker songs and sentimental tunes

In 1965 Sovine found his niche when he recorded "Giddyup Go", which, like most of his other trucker hits, he co-wrote with Tommy Hill.

It is spoken, rather than sung, as the words of an older long-distance truck driver who rediscovers his long-lost son driving another truck on the same highway.

Minnie Pearl released an answer song titled "Giddy-Up Go Answer". Sovine's version of the song spent six weeks atop the country charts and crossed over to the pop charts.

Other truck-driving hits followed, including:

• "Phantom 309", a tale of a hitchhiker who hops a ride from a trucker who turns out to be the ghost of a man who died years ago giving his life to save a school bus full of children from a horrible collision with his rig. This story was later adapted by singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who performed "Big Joe And Phantom 309" during his Nighthawks At The Diner recordings. Waits' version of this song was covered by Archers of Loaf on the 1995 tribute album, Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits. Musician Steve Flett named a recording project after the song. The song was originally written and recorded by Tommy Faile.
• "Teddy Bear", the tale of a disabled boy who lost his truck driver father in a highway accident and keeps his CB radio base as his only companion.
• "Little Joe", a tale of a trucker and his devoted canine friend which became his last big hit. This last story features Teddy Bear who can now walk.^[1][2]

Sovine was also remembered for his Christmas tear-jerkers, which included "Here It Is Christmas" (a divorcee's holiday lament), "Faith In Santa" (a dialog between a poor, runaway boy and a sidewalk Santa), and "What Does Christmas Look Like?" (a little blind girl asks her father to describe the Christmas she cannot see).

He scored another sentimental hit with "Little Rosa" in which an Italian-American railroad employee tells a stranger, in broken English, about getting a bouquet to place on the grave of his small daughter who was killed by a train while he was away.

Death

On April 4, 1980, Sovine suffered a heart attack while driving his Ford van in Nashville, which caused him to crash. The injuries and his heart attack were fatal.

He was buried next to his wife Norma, who died in 1976.^[1][2]

For many years after his death, his greatest hits collection (The Best Of Red Sovine) was advertised on television, exposing his music to a new generation of fans.

Covers

Sovine performed covers of many truck driving songs made popular by fellow country stars, such as Del Reeves and Dave Dudley, as well as "Why Baby Why", a duet with Webb Pierce originally recorded by George Jones.

 Other covers include "A Dear John Letter" (Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky), "Old Rivers" (Walter Brennan), "Bringing Mary Home" (The Country Gentlemen), and "Roses for Mama" (C.W. McCall), among many more.

His last charting hit in his lifetime, in 1978, was by rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Eric Clapton – "Lay Down Sally."

Save for the mid-song guitar bridge, Sovine's version– a No. 70 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart – closely resembled the Clapton original.

Many of Sovine's biggest truck driving hits were covered by artists such as, Del Reeves, Dave Dudley, Ferlin Husky, Boxcar Willie, Tex Williams and Australian country singer Nev Nicholls.

Mike Judge covered "Teddy Bear" as Hank Hill for the King of the Hill soundtrack. Some of Sovine's songs were covered by Dutch artists and became big hits in the Netherlands (Teddy Bear, Giddy Up Go and Deck of Cards by Gerard de Vries, Phantom 309 (Stille Willie) by the B B Band, Little Joe (Kleine Waker) by Henk Wijngaard).

Tom Waits released Big Joe and Phantom 309 on his 1975 "Nighthawks at the Diner".

Source:Wikipedia

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Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man

Don Williams~ "You're My Best Friend"

Tranquility12·
Uploaded on Sept 24, 2006

Don Williams (born May 27, 1939, Floydada, Texas, United States), is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School.

After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing 17 No. 1 Country & Western hits.

His straightforward yet smooth bass-baritone voice, soft tones, and imposing build earned him the nickname: "Gentle Giant" of country music.^[1]

Don Williams
Background information
Birth name	Don Williams
Born	May 27, 1939 (age 74) Floydada, Texas, United States
Genres	Country, Country rock, Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Musician
Instruments	vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bass
Years active	1964 – 2006 2010 - present
Labels	Columbia, Dot, ABC, MCA, Capitol, RCA, American Harvest, Giant, Koch, Compendia, Sugar Hill Records
Associated acts	Keith Urban
Website	Don Williams.com

 

Early career

When Don was three years old he sang in a local talent contest—his first public performance—and won first prize, an alarm clock.

He began playing guitar as a teenager, which he learned from his mother.

While a teenager, he played with country, rock n' roll and folk bands.

He formed his first band with Lofton Kline, called The Strangers Two, and in 1964 was approached by Susan Taylor to form a trio which ultimately became the Pozo-Seco Singers, a folk-pop group.

The band recorded a song called, "Time" on a local label called Edmark Records and it became a regional hit in their home state of Texas.

Columbia Records, picked up the record, signed the group, and released a series of Top 50 hits and three albums.

The group disbanded in 1971, at which point Williams embarked on a solo career.

Solo career

Williams started out as a songwriter for Jack Music Inc. Eventually, he signed with JMI Records as a solo artist.

His 1974 song, "We Should Be Together," reached number five, and he signed with ABC/Dot Records.

His first single with ABC/Dot, "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me," became a number one hit, and was the first of a string of top ten hits he had between 1974 and 1991.

Only four of his 46 singles didn't make it to the Top Ten.

"I Believe in You" is a 1980 single written by Roger Cook and Sam Hogin and recorded by Don Williams.

 "I Believe in You" would be Don Williams' eleventh #1 on the country chart.

The single stayed at #1 for two weeks and spent 12 weeks on the country chart. ^[2] "I Believe in You" would be Don Williams' only Top 40 entry, where it peaked at #24. It was also hit in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. ^[3]

Early in 2006, Williams announced his "Farewell Tour of the World" and played numerous dates both in the U.S. and abroad, wrapping the tour up with the "Final Farewell Concert" in Memphis, Tennessee at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts on November 21, 2006.

Playing to a full house, the final event was well received and quite emotional for fans in attendance.

As of 2010, Williams had come out of retirement and was once again touring.^[4]

In March 2012, Williams announced the release of a new record And So It Goes (UK release April 30, 2012; US/Worldwide release June 19, 2012), his first new record since 2004.

The record is his first with the independent Americana label Sugar Hill Records.^[5] The record includes guest appearances by Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, and Vince Gill.

To accompany his latest album release he embarked on a UK Tour.

Personal life

Williams married Joy Bucher on April 10, 1960. They have two sons, Gary and Timmy.

Recognition

Williams has had a strong influence over a variety of recording artists of different genres.

His hits have been covered by artists such as Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Claude Russell Bridges, Lefty Frizzell, Josh Turner, Sonny James, Alison Krauss, Billy Dean, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, Lambchop, Alan Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Pete Townshend and Tortoise (band) with Bonnie "Prince" Billy.^[6]

His music is also popular internationally, including Great Britain, Australia, Ukraine, India, Ghana and Nigeria.^[7]

On February 23, 2010, the Country Music Association announced that Don Williams was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.^[8]

Source:Wikipedia

 

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Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man